The Light within the Darkness
by XFireFistAceX
Summary: After the defeat of Xenmas, nightmares of the darkness still haunt Riku. However, he saw a mysterious girl before he woke up from his latest nightmare. Who was that and is she the key to ending his nightmares? RikuxNamine [AU]
1. Chapter 1

**Ace: Hey all, this is my first story in a while, so I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters, I simply use them.  
**

Chapter 1

"In the end, you will be alone, with no one to help you when you need it most." A voice said from the shadows. "Just like you are right now."

Riku stood there, breathing heavily, with his Keyblade gripped tightly in his hand. Sweat ran down his face as prepared for another wave of Heartless. _How can this be happening…Where are my friends? Sora…Kairi... have you really abandoned me?_

As the hundreds of Heartless began charging at him, Riku's vision began to blur. _No…not now. _The last thing Riku saw before he passed out was a burst of bright light and a girl standing infront of him as the Heartless vanished.

"Who are you….?" Riku managed to get out before he fell to the ground.

"I'm…" Is all he heard before everything vanished.

Riku shot up in his bed, his eyes wide open and sweat covering his face. _It was only a nightmare._ He put a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes once again, trying to think about what just happened. It had been a year since he and Sora has defeated Xenmas, yet these dreams continued to haunt him. However, this one was different, that girl never appeared in his dream before.

His alarm went off, signaling that it was precisely 7 am and the first day of school would start in an hour. He had just enough time for a quick shower before he slipped into his school uniform. Ugh, how he hated having to wear it.

"It can't be helped…at least I know Sora and Kairi will be there." Riku muttered to himself as he finished tying his tie. He made his way down into the kitchen, where his mother was. He sat down at the table as he mother made pancakes. He glanced up to the clock on the wall, it read 7:30.

"Sora called, he said that he and Kairi will meet you at school." His mother said as she put the pancakes infront of him. Riku sighed as he began eating the pancakes.

_So I guess I'll be walking to school alone today._ Riku thought to himself as he finished his breakfast and got up from the table. "I'll see you when I get back from school." Riku said as he threw his backpack over his shoulder and walked to the door.

"Have a good…" was all his mother could get out before she heard the slam of the door. In truth, he was so deep in thought that he didn't hear his mother.

He was looking down to the ground as he was walking towards the school, his hair falling onto his face. As he was walking, he heard someone running behind him. As he turned around, there was a girl with a similar uniform running behind him. He noticed that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, but before he could react, she had run into him, knocking him onto the ground and falling ontop of him. Riku blushed slightly as she shook her head and looked up at him. Her face also turned red as she stood up quickly and bowed.

"I'm very sorry, I just moved here and this is my first time going to this school…. I-I don't know where the school is and when I saw your school outfit…..I-I-I figured you would know, so I ran to catch up to you….but I didn't look where I was going…sorry…" She said softly.

Riku blinked a few times, and then laughed a bit. "It's quite alright, I got lost in my thoughts and didn't notice any of my surroundings." Her voice sounded familiar but he was not sure from where. He shrugged a bit and stood up, dusting himself off. He looked at her and smirked. "Well, since you don't know where the school is, how about I walk you there?"

She smiled slightly and nodded. "My name is Riku, it's nice to meet you." Riku said, looking over to her. "What's your name?"

The girl still looked down. "M-M-My name is Nami…" She was still looking at the ground. "It's nice to meet you too…thank you for showing me where the school is.."

"It was no problem." Riku said as they walked up the stairs to the school. "What is your schedule like?"

Nami fumbled through her backpack and pulled out her schedule. She showed it to Riku and he pulled out his to compare it. _We have every class together. What a coincidence._ Riku laughed to himself. "It looks like we have all the same classes. So I can show you where each of your classes are."

Nami blushed a little. "O-O-Okay… thanks…." Riku smiled to her.

Just then, Riku heard an all too familiar voice. "Hey, Riku!" By the time he turned around, he was tackled to the floor by Kairi, with Sora following behind.

_Great. _Riku thought. _I've been up for an hour and I've been knocked to the ground twice._ Sora helped Kairi up as Riku stood up and dusted himself off again.

"How have you been, Riku? Sorry we didn't walk with you, but Sora wanted to take a walk down the beach in the morning before school. Hey, who is the girl with you? Is this your new girlfriend or something?" Kairi said, excitedly. Riku guessed that Sora gave her something really nice and she was just really happy. Of course, it didn't help that Nami was with him and Kairi always has to ask if Riku has a girlfriend.

Nami blushed and looked down; she didn't really know what to think right now. Riku walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him and he just smiled at her. She smiled back and turned to Sora and Kairi and bowed. "My name is Nami, it's nice to meet you both…."

Riku chuckled. "She's also not my girlfriend, can't I help a girl find a school without there being implications of her being with me."

Kairi giggled and grabbed onto Sora's arm. "Nope, but you should know that already." Kairi looked up to Sora and he flashed that big goofy smile of his.

Riku sighed and rolled his eyes a bit. _First day of school is already shaping up to be interesting, wonder what will happen next._

The first class was math. _Oh great, math. This is going to be so awesome…_He turned to Nami and smirked. "Class is going to start soon, let's go find your locker."

Nami was still looking down, but she nodded as she followed Riku. Whenever she looked up and around, she noticed that all the girls were looking at him and then shooting glares at her. She started to look down to the floor again. "R-R-Riku...w-w-why are all the girls giving me these evils looks. Did I do something wrong?"

Riku looked around and noticed it. He chuckled a bit. "You didn't do anything wrong. The girls all have crushes on me, so they probably assume you're my girlfriend." He looked back to her and noticed she her face was turning a light shade of crimson.

Riku smirked and turned around placing his hands on Nami's shoulders. Nami looked up to him as he smiled at her. "Don't let them get to you, just smile like this. You're a better person than any of them." She began to turn a darker red, but she smiled back at him.

"Thank you Riku. That made me feel a lot better." She said, sounding a bit more confident. When they got to the class room, Nami pulled out her schedule again, trying to find her locker number. _2045…That's right here._ She opened her locker, and put some of her stuff in it. When she closed the locker, Riku was leaning against the lockers, with his eyes closed.

Nami went to try and nudge Riku, but he had already sensed her coming towards him and pushed off the locker. He opened his eyes and looked over to her, then walked to the classroom. Nami simply stood there confused, not really sure how he knew she was trying to nudge him. After a few seconds, she snapped back to reality and followed Riku into the classroom. Riku took a seat in the back of the room, he always liked to nap in his first class, and besides, he knew who the teacher was going to be. Nami took the chair next to him, looking at him questioningly. "So, what is the teacher like?"

Riku thought about it for a second. "He can be a bit of a hard ass, and he likes to curse a lot, but all-in-all he's a pretty good guy. If you stay out of trouble with him, he won't bother you much."

Nami nodded in acknowledgement. The bell rang and the other students walked in. There were not too many kids in the class, but one boy sat down on the other side of Riku. "So, you are ready for blitzball this season, ya?" The boy said.

Riku chuckled. "Yea, I guess. You guys always force me to play anyway. Oh, this is Nami, she just moved here." Riku said motioning to Nami.

Nami smiled slightly. "It's nice to meet you.."

The boy smiled. "My name is Wakka, eh. It's nice to meet you."

Before they could say anything else, a man in a blue denim jacket walked in. He didn't exactly look like a teacher, but he didn't exactly look like he'd listen to anyone who would try to tell him.

The teacher dropped his books onto his desk and scanned the class. He noticed that Riku and Wakka were sitting in the back together. He sighed a bit, but grateful that he didn't have another year of Tidus and Wakka in the same class. He wrote his name on the board and then turned to the students. "My name is Cid Highwind and I will be your math teacher this year. I don't want to see any goofing off from you guys, most of you know my policies already so I don't see why I should repeat them. If you don't know, ask your classmates."

Wakka and Riku both winced as they heard him say that. Boy did they remember his forms of discipline. Nami looked over to Riku, a look on concern on her face. Riku looked over and simply smiled. _She's got nothing to worry about; Cid's always had a soft spot for girls._

It seemed like the class went by relatively quickly, Cid wasn't cursing too much and no one seemed to get into trouble, a new record for a math class. The bell rang and everyone gathered their things and walked out. Riku sighed a bit, relieved that Cid didn't notice he was napping this time.

The rest of the morning went by fast and before anyone realized it, it was time for lunch. Riku, Wakka, and Nami walked into the cafeteria, quickly finding Sora and Kairi. They all sat down at a table, with Nami sitting next to Riku and stayed quiet for most of the lunch.

Riku looked over to her, noticing that she was just looking at her plates. He nudges her slightly, causing her to look up. Riku simply smiled, "So, where did you live before you moved here?"

Nami looked down again. "…I don't remember anything earlier than a year ago, but I lived in Traverse Town where my parents home schooled me. Then, our house was destroyed in a fire and we decided to move..." It was then that Nami began to tear up. Then she quickly got out of her seat and ran out of the cafeteria. Kairi, Sora and Wakka all looked at each other confused, while Riku stood up looking at the cafeteria doors.

"Nami…" With that, Riku took off out of the cafeteria. Something was wrong, and he wanted to know what.

**Ace: Remember to R&R. If you like it, tell people who might like it, as the more reviews I get, the quicker I'll start writing the next chapter. Oh, and shout-out to cracker-jacks with Cid the math teacher.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ace: Sorry for the long wait, it took a while between class and work to get my thoughts together. Anyway, here is chapter 2.**

Chapter 2

As Riku ran out of the cafeteria, he looked around to try and see where Nami had gone. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of what he could only assume was here because she was too far away. He ran down the hallway, ducking and weaving between the crowds of students. As he slowly bridged the gap between them, he began calling out to her, "Nami, Nami please stop running."

Nami stopped as she heard his voice, but merely for a second. She then ran to the one room that Riku couldn't go in, the girl's bathroom. Riku skidded to a halt in front of the door, stopping just before hitting the door. He stood before the door, thinking about what he should do. _If I go in there, I'll get in big trouble, but I've got to see what's wrong. Hmm, what should I do? _

After about a minute, Riku realized something that should have been obvious from the start. _How could I forget about that, of all things? _Riku then closed his eyes as he walked into the bathroom. When he opened the door, he only caught the scent of one person, Nami. He could sense that she was over by the sink as he made his way over. "Nami, what's wrong?"

Nami jumped as she turned around, shocked to hear Riku. "What are you doing in here?! What if I was…?" It was at that point when she noticed that his eyes were closed and that he wouldn't have been able to see anything. She looked at him confused. "How can you tell where you are without your eyes open?"

Riku chuckled a bit, "I've trained myself to be able to know my surroundings so that things cannot get the jump on me. But enough about me what's wrong, Nami? Why did you leave so quickly?"

"I'll tell you, but first we should get out of here before someone catches you and reports you to the principal."

As they walked out of the bathroom, Riku opened his eyes to see that no one was in the hallways. He blinked slightly, and looked up to the clock. No sooner did he look up did the bell ring. Riku sighed again, _talk about bad timing._

"It's time for gym, we'll talk after school on the walk home, alright?" Riku said.

"That sounds fine, but since we'll have time you'll have to tell me something about yourself," Nami replied.

"What? Why do I need to tell you something?"

"It's only fair, a secret for a secret," Nami giggled as she walked into the gym.

Riku sighed again as he followed her in. From there, they went their separate ways to their respective locker rooms. As Riku pushed opened the boys' door, he stood face to face with another blonde, spiky-haired teacher. "Hey, Cloud."

Cloud nodded slightly as he walked out the door. "Hope you're ready for class, don't think I'm going to go easy on you because we train together."

Riku smirked and laughed. "I hope class isn't too boring this year, I need a challenge." Cloud chuckled slightly as he walked out, leaving Riku the only person there.

In the girls' locker-room, Nami was greeted by a woman with long brown hair and green eyes. The woman smiled as she extended her hand. "My name is Aeris, and I'll be your gym teacher, nice to meet you."

Nami smiled meekly as she shook Aeris' hand. "I'm Nami, it's nice meeting you too. Um, are we supposed to bring our own gym clothes or does the school provide some."

Aeris giggled as she handed Nami a pair of clothes. "Here you go, normally you get them when you get your uniform, but there was probably a mix up. When you finish getting dressed, just come outside to do stretches." With that, Aeris smiled and left, leaving Nami to get changed.

Nami and Riku both came out of the locker-rooms at what would seem like the same time, each going to their respective groups. The girls began stretching routines as Cloud stood in front of the boys. "Alright, simple drill, I'm going to throw dodge balls at you, and the last person standing doesn't have to run laps."

Not even three minutes after the start of this "drill" and most of the students were pegged. There were only three remaining: Wakka, Riku and a boy with blonde hair with a grey beanie. Wakka turned to Riku slightly, "So it's you, me and Seifer left, ya? Usually it's you, me and Sora. Where is Sora today, eh?"

"He's with Kairi today, they decided to skip. I wonder why Seifer is doing the drills. He usually just sits on the bleachers and says he's too good for this." Riku laughed a bit as he elegantly weaved between two dodge balls.

Meanwhile, the girls had finished stretching and were now watching intently as the three remaining boys were dodging the balls. Most of them were cheering for Riku, a few for Wakka and one for Seifer.

As they were dodging, Riku noticed Seifer turning to him. Seifer then spit at Riku, and then seemingly disappeared. As Riku moved out of the way of the spit, Seifer appeared and placed a hard kick onto Riku's left hip, sending Riku tumbling across the gym floor.

Seifer smirked as he walked out of the gym, "Guess you're not that good after all, Riku." Wakka wanted to chase after him, but for now he had to help his friend. Cloud and Wakka rushed over to Riku, everyone else looking on in stunned silence. Riku was reeling in pain, as his white shirt began to turn red.

As Nami watched everything unfold, her eyes began to tear up again. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and ran over to Riku, wanting to see if he was ok.

"Dude, he's bleeding pretty badly, ya. Do you have any bandages in your office, Cloud?" Wakka said as he took off Riku's shirt, revealing the bleeding wound. Cloud stood up and ran over to his office to get the bandages, while Nami knelt down by Riku's head.

Riku looked up to Nami and forced a smile through obvious pain. "Hey Nami, this is kind of embarrassing…here I was trying to impress you and now I'm on the floor." Riku tried to laugh, but the pain was too much and he yelled out slightly.

Nami smiled slightly, "You don't need to impress me, Riku. I just hope I don't have to worry about things like this happening everyday."

As she looked up, Cloud had come back with a medical kit as he carefully began treating the wound. It took a couple minutes as Cloud finished up by wrapping Riku's abdomen with the bandages so that it would cover the entirety of the wound. "Alright, Wakka, you and Nami take Riku to the nurse's office." Wakka nodded as he propped Riku up on his shoulder.

Nami ducked underneath Riku's other shoulder so that Wakka wouldn't have to carry Riku and they made their way to the nurse. "I can't believe Seifer would do something so horrible to Riku," Nami said annoyed.

"Riku and Seifer have crossed paths before, ya," Wakka explained. "The last time it happened, Riku won fair and square, so Seifer must have figured he would have to play dirty to get back at him."

"What happened last time?"

"Well, it all happened last year…"

--------------------------------------------------Flashback---------------------------------------------

The bell rang and Riku walked out of his math class, with Sora following behind. "Man, I can't believe I got a 75 on that test, it was so hard. How did you do, Riku?" Sora grumbled.

"I got a 100. You should have studied and then maybe you would have done better," Riku said while looking his test over.

"Hmph, _you_ didn't study for the test."

"That's because _I _understand the equations," Riku replied, laughing. "Don't worry though, I'm sure Kairi will help you study next time."

Sora pouted as he began scanning his test and reading the comments his teacher wrote. He was so distracted by the grade that be barely noticed anything around him. Meanwhile, Seifer and his gang were walking towards them. Like Sora, Seifer was too wrapped up to even notice what was going on.

Riku glanced over and noticed that Sora was completely distracted. "Hey Sora, if you don't watch out, you're going to…"But it was too late, Sora collided with Seifer, sending both stumbling backwards onto the floor. A smirk appeared on Riku's face as he walked over to Sora and offered him a hand. "You should watch where you're going, save studying for when you're sitting."

Sora grinned as he took Riku's hand and pulled himself back up onto his feet. As he dusted himself off, they both heard a booming voice from behind them. "You should watch where you're going, ya know! You just knocked over the great Seifer, ya know!"

Riku and Sora looked to each other and then burst into laughter. "Oh no, not the great Seifer, please forgive us!" As Riku calmed down, he felt quick, aggressive movements towards them. However, before Riku could react, Seifer appeared before Sora and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying back into the wall. Riku rushed over to Sora's slumped over body, checking for any serious injuries.

Fortunately, Sora only suffered some minor fractures and bruises from hitting the wall. Kairi and Selphie rushed over to him. As they knelt down beside him, Riku stood up and pulled a cloth from his pocket. "You guys make sure Sora gets the medical help he needs quickly. I'm going to deal with Seifer personally."

Seifer stood amongst his gang, proud of what he had just done. It was then that he noticed that Riku was standing in front of him, a fire shining brightly in his eyes. "What do you want, punk? Do you want to end up like Sora?" Seifer began to laugh again.

Riku continued to glare at him intently. He had promised himself he wouldn't fight again after he and Sora had defeated Xenmas. However, he couldn't stand by and let this go unpunished; his friend got hurt and he wasn't about to let Seifer get away with it. "I challenge you to a fight."

Seifer began to laugh harder as he looked over to Riku again. "You _challenge_ me? Oh no, I'm _soo_ afraid. Fine, I accept your challenge, Riku. Let's go outside and start this now." Riku simply nodded and they both walked outside, a crowd of students following them. When the two turned to face each other, Riku wrapped the cloth around his head, completely covering his eyes. Seifer began to laugh once again as he watched Riku. "You're _blindfolding_ yourself? This isn't even going to be fair. Tell you what, if you can hit me three times before you consciousness, you win."

Riku smirked as he nodded in agreement. "That's fine, but I won't need more than a minute to win."

"Really now, only a minute? You're going to regret saying that." With that, Seifer dashed towards Riku, seemingly disappearing and then reappearing behind him. He then tried to punch Riku in the back of the head. However, Riku ducked underneath the punch and sent out a kick behind him, hitting Seifer directly in the chest. Seifer gasped as he stumbled back a few steps and fell down to one knee. _What the...? Did he know where I was? No way, that's impossible. It must have been a fluke,"_ Seifer thought as he stood up.

"That's one hit down, two more to go," Riku said, chuckling a bit. Right now he didn't just want to beat Seifer, he wanted to humiliate him. He wanted to make sure Seifer knew not to mess with any of his friends again. Seifer growled at the remark as he began running around Riku in a circular motion. He then made a quick sharp turn towards Riku and jumped into the air. He then spun around in midair and tried to kick Riku in the face. To Seifer's surprise, Riku jumped backwards, avoiding the blow, then wound up and punched Seifer in the gut. His eyes widened as he fell to the ground, groaning out of the pain of the punch and hitting the ground.

Seifer struggled to get up onto his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath. _What is going on? How can he know where I am_ _without being able to see me? This is impossible, I'm the best here. I won't let him beat me like this. _He gritted his teeth as he stood up, determined to beat him. "Ha! You must think you're about to win, but that's where you're wrong. I've been going easy on you until now, but now it's time to get serious."

"Whatever you say, Seifer. I've been waiting for this to stop being a joke, or perhaps you're just not that strong after all."

Seifer growled loudly at that last comment. He wasn't about to be humiliated by Riku, not in front of the entire school. It was then that one of his gang tossed him his bat. He looked over as he smirked and grabbed the bat out of mid-air. He then pointed it at Riku, laughing. "There's been a change of plans, weapons are fair game now. It's time you paid for toying with me. Here we go!"

(to be continued)

**Ace: Well, there you have it, sorry for the suspenseful ending, but trust me, it'll be worth it.**

**Like one of my friends, cracker-jacks does at the end of her stories, I decided to respond to the comments you all were so nice to leave for me. **

**Zealaya... **_Glad you liked it, and thanks for the tip._

**WarriorofVirtue... **_Hope you enjoy the next chapter._

**Aska-Seeker... **_Gah, sorry for all the suspense, it'll get less suspenseful in the third chapter._

**Cracker-jacks000...** _Thanks so much, you seem to show up all the time in my A/N lol._

**Twilight Angel1013...** _Heh, glad you like. And to answer your question, yes she is._

**Remember to R&R and the third chapter will be up as soon as possible.**

**-xFireFistAcex**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ace: Wow, even I'm surprised on how quickly this update came. Anyway, without further ado, I give you Chapter 3.**

Chapter 3

Seifer slowly began to open his eyes, holding his head with one hand. "Whoa…what happened?" He slowly sat up and saw his bat shattered next to him, and then looked over to see the students crowded around Riku. "What the…? How did he…?"

"I couldn't believe it when I saw it, ya know?" Rai exclaimed as he stood next to Seifer. "Here's what happened, ya know."

As Seifer listened to Rai recount the tale, his memory began to create an image of what had happened. Seifer charged towards Riku, swinging the bat wildly. Riku dodged each swing easily, moving from side to side with almost no effort. Then, suddenly, Riku caught the scent of someone familiar being pushed out onto the sidewalk where they were fighting, Kairi.

_Why is Kairi here? What's going on?_ Riku thought to himself, but it was also then that he heard Seifer again.

"Let's see if you can protect your friends with a blindfold on!" Seifer said, laughing maniacally.

Riku growled as he felt Seifer move towards Kairi. Kairi screamed and tried to run but she was tripped by Rai and fell over. She lay there, looking up at Seifer about the slam the bat down onto her, her eyes filled with terror. She closed her eyes and curled up in a desperate attempt to protect herself, but the bat never came. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see Riku standing in front of her, the bat held firmly in his hand.

"How did you…?" Seifer said, but there was no response. Instead, Riku broke the bat clear in half, throwing it to the ground. Before Seifer could even react, Riku's fist connected with Seifer's face and sent him flying back, and then seemingly vanished. This was different then Seifer's speed; Seifer caught people by surprise, Riku moved so quickly that no one could see him. He reappeared in the air above Seifer, his eyes completely devoid of emotion. He then slammed his leg down onto Seifer's chest, sending him crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Seifer coughed up blood on impact, and then his vision went black.

"…And that's what happened, ya know," Rai said as Seifer began to stand up, his hand still holding his head. "He won't be lucky the next time, ya know. I got some information that you'll want to know, ya know."

Rai helped Seifer to his feet as they walked back into the school, followed quickly by the rest of the students. Riku sighed in relief as the students left; he finally had some breathing room. He then walked over to Kairi and extended his hand out to her, "Care for a little help, Kairi?"

Kairi looked up to him and smiled as she took his hand to help her get up, "Thanks Riku, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you were not here." She then looked down to her watch. "Oh shoot, I need to go see Sora to make sure he's alright before class starts, I never actually got to the nurse's office. Thanks again Riku, I'll pay you back another time," She said as she ran back into the school, flashing him the peace sign before running towards the nurse's office.

As Kairi left, Riku sat down on a bench and took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. He began to replay the fight in his head with excruciating detail, trying to find out why he lost control and snap. He knew it wasn't because of Kairi, because even though she was his friend, he should have been able to calmly defend her. After a couple minutes, Riku realized it was when he caught the bat that everything went wrong, and the darkness within him was to blame.

"So that was it after all, I can't believe I'm still so weak," He said to himself. "Well, then if I'm so weak then I can't fight anymore. I won't chance letting the darkness taking over me and hurting my friends again." He then stood up as the bell rang and walked back into the school while his face still showed that fake smile that he would always put on.

-------------------------------------------End Flashback---------------------------------------

"Wow, how did you know about all this? Did Riku tell you?" Nami asked, looking at Riku, who had passed out from the pain a while ago.

"Yea, he did. During blitz ball practice, some punks tried to pick a fight with him, but he didn't do anything. They were about to gang up on him, but Sora and I chased them off, ya," Wakka said laughing slightly. "We were confused because we were sure that Riku would easily beat them, and when we initially asked, he refused to answer. It took a little bit of convincing but we eventually got him to tell us what happened."

Nami nodded as she looked to him and thought, _I wonder if that his secret. I guess I'll have to find out when he's willing to talk about it._

When they reached the nurse's office, she looked up and smiled, "How can I…" She then gasped and rushed over to them. "What happened?"

"Seifer got a cheap shot in on Riku, ya," Wakka said as he and Nami brought Riku to the closest available bed.

"Oh dear," the nurse said, sighing. "And I don't suppose Seifer made it easy for me and hit Riku somewhere other than where his other injury is." They both shook their heads as she went over to tend to Riku. "You two should go back to your classes and come back at the end of the day. I'm going to give him some medicine to stop the pain and let him rest, but he should be alright."

Nami nodded and walked out of the office, taking one last look at Riku before leaving. _Today isn't a good day to tell him, I'll tell him tomorrow, she thought as she walked back to the gym._

The end of the day couldn't come soon enough in Nami's eyes. As she sat in her last class, her eyes would always drift over to the clock, eager for school to end so that she could go see if Riku was alright. Tick tock, tick tock; the sounds of the clock nearly drove Nami to madness as she waited for the bell to ring. It seemed like the bell would never ring, but no sooner than that though passed through her head did the sound she had been waiting to hear rang loudly. Nami quickly packed up her things and rushed straight towards the nurse's office, where she found Riku sitting on the bed.

She smiled, relieved that he seemed to be alright. Still, she wanted to be sure. "Hey, are you alright, Riku?"

"Yea, nothing can keep me down for long," Riku said laughing.

Nami giggled a bit, "You're funny, Riku. Anyway, I was about to leave to go home, and … Iwaswonderingifyouwouldwalkmehome" The last part of the sentence was said very fast, and it took a moment for Riku to figure out what she had just said.

Riku chuckled slightly as he stood up and walked over to her, a smirk on his face. "Sure, I'll walk home with ya, maybe we can talk about what happened at lunch."

Nami looked down a bit, "About that…I know I said I would tell you and I will, but today was just a very stressful day, could we talk about it tomorrow?" She hoped that Riku wasn't made or upset with her, but she didn't want to look on the chance that he might.

"Don't worry about it, but you have to promise we'll talk tomorrow and no excuses."

Nami looked up to him seeing his smile, which caused her to smile as well. "Alright, I promise you we will."

"Awesome, let's get going. If you want, you can come over and have dinner at my house, it'll be my way of saying thanks for the help," Riku said as he opened the door and held it for her.

Nami turned a deep shade of red as she looked down to the floor. "O-O-Ok, that's sounds n-n-nice," she managed to stammer out. _Is this a date? Does he like me? Is he being nice? Do I like him? Should I have said yes?_ She thought as her mind was racing. When she looked back up, she saw Riku with a confused look on his face. She then took a deep breath to calm herself and looked back up, smiling. "I hope your mom won't mind the short notice," she said as she walked out of the office.

"Nah, if anything, she'll have me cook since I'm the one having company," Riku said as he followed her. As they walked through the hallway, they passed Wakka who waved, glad to see that Riku was alright. Wakka walked over to Riku and slapped him on the shoulder, laughing.

"Good to see you're better. I just got word that blitz ball practice starts in two weeks, so you better be ready, ya."

Riku smirked as he replied, "Yea, Seifer isn't strong enough to keep me down, and don't worry I'll be ready. This year we're taking home the championship."

"Now that's what I like to hear! Take care bro and I'll see ya tomorrow," Wakka said as he walked in the opposite direction, waving back to them.

Nami waved back and then turned to Riku. "So, if you're going to cook tonight, what did you have in mind?" She began walking to the front doors of the school with Riku walking next to her.

"Hmm, I don't know what I'd make, did you have anything in mind?" Riku asked, pushing the door open as they walked outside and down the stairs.

"It doesn't matter what you make, I'll end up eating whatever you make."

"Alright, so I'll make liver and onions."

"Ew! Gross, that's disgusting!" Nami said as she put her hand over her mouth like she would be sick.

Riku snickered, "Only kidding, Nami. I'll make spaghetti with marinara sauce."

Nami glared at him, but then smirked and hit him in the arm playfully. "Alright, but it better be good. If it's not, you're going to pay for almost making me sick."

The two laughed as they walked down the road for about 20 minutes before reaching Riku's house. When they walked up onto his balcony, he opened the door and walked inside. "Mom, I'm home and I brought someone for dinner."

His mother's head popped out from the kitchen and she walked into the room and smiled. "Hello, I'm Riku's mother, it's nice to meet you. Riku, is this your new girlfriend?" His mother teased him, causing him to blush a bit.

"No, this is my friend Nami, she's new to the island."

"It's nice to meet you," Nami said shyly. She was always a bit shy around new people, especially parents. Her mom giggled a bit and then looked to Riku.

"Tell you what, Riku, I'll make dinner tonight, you can show Nami around the house," she said as she walked into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Riku laughed to himself and turned to Nami. "Alright, I'll show you the upstairs," He said as he walked up the stairs, with Nami following quickly. The first room she saw was his mother's room, a typical looking parent's room with one side looking like it never gets touched. She was a bit confused at it, but now wasn't the time to question. He pointed out the bathroom as that's the one room you never need to be shown.

Riku then opened the last door upstairs; his room. When she looked around, she saw that most of the wall was covered with white paint, with one part painted black. The walls were covered with posters and his clothes were scattered across the room. He didn't anticipate anyone coming over, so he didn't clean before leaving for school. He laughed nervously as he walked around the room and picked up his clothes. While he was cleaning, Nami sat down on his bed and continued looking around. There wasn't too much more to his room, various trophies, a few blitz balls and soccer balls, and a couple movies.

"You have a bunch of trophies, when did you get them?" Nami asked as she picked up a one and looked it over.

"I got those like 4 or 5 years ago. I was the best at every sport, but then…I don't I just lost interest I guess," he replied as he finished putting his clothes away and walked to his door, motioning for Nami to follow. She nodded, putting the trophy down and walked out of the room and downstairs. When they got downstairs, she took a seat on the couch, picked up the remote and turned on the television while they were waiting for his mother to finish dinner. Riku took the seat next to her and laid his head on the arm rest.

"Are you alright, Riku?" Nami asked, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm alright, just still a bit worn out," Riku said picking his head up and looking over to her. His eyes seemed to grow heavy and he began to fall over. However, instead of falling onto the armrest, he ended up falling the opposite way, his head landing on Nami's lap.

Nami turned completely red, and froze for a second, unsure of what to do. She then looked down at him and smiled. _He looks so cute when he sleeps,_ she thought to herself as she ran her fingers through his hair. _Maybe I do like him, I'm not sure... heck I don't even remember what happened to me more than a year ago, how can I be sure I know?_ She sighed a bit and played with his hair for a little longer, then moving and laying his head on a pillow.

When Riku awoke, he looked around, noticing that Nami was gone. He then quickly sat up and looked around to see if Nami was in the room, but to no avail. He rubbed his eyes slightly and stood up, dragging his feet as he mad his way into the kitchen. He sensed that two people were there, figuring it was his mother and Nami. When he looked up, he smiled as he saw Nami helping set up the table as his mother brought the food to the table.

"Morning, sleepyhead," his mother said teasingly. "Nami came in like 20 minutes ago, telling me that you fell asleep, and she asked if she could help, so I had her set the table. She's so sweet!"

Nami blushed and looked down as she went to a chair and took a seat. Riku picked up the dishes and put food on each before handing them out again and taking a seat next to Nami. Dinner went by quickly, Riku's mother trying her best to embarrass him, causing him to blush and Nami to laugh. After dinner was over, Riku took the plates and silverware and began to clean them, Nami coming over to help him.

"You don't have to help me, Nami."

"I know," Nami said, smiling. "I want to help you. That way you finish quicker."

Riku smirked as he and Nami finished cleaning the plates and the table in only about 5 minutes. After they were done, Nami look at the clock, noticing it was about 7:30. "Well, I should get going back home before my family starts sending the police out to find me," Nami said giggling as she walked to the door, while Riku followed her. Before she opened the door, she turned to Riku, "thank you for dinner and for walking me home. Have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow."

"It was my pleasure, Nami. You have a good night yourself and I'll walk with you to school tomorrow too, if you'd like." Nami nodded and waved and she walked out the front door. Riku closed it behind him and plopped down on the couch. He couldn't help but smile as he looked up to the ceiling, he liked hanging out with Nami and hoped to be able to more often. As he lay there, he began to grow tired again, must have been the lack of sleep the night before. Within minutes, he was fast asleep, and he began to dream again, but this dream was much different.

-----------------------------------------Dream----------------------------------------

Riku opened his eyes to find his head on the lap of a blond-haired girl who was looking down at him, smiling. He knew it wasn't Nami, or at the very least it did not seem like her and he sat up quickly, causing the girl to giggle. He noticed Nami and the girl shared the same eye color, but this girl looked much older than Nami was. It was then that he remembered his last dream, where he was saved by a blonde haired girl, who closely resembled the one in front of him.

"You're the girl from last time that saved me from the darkness, please tell me your name."

The girl simply giggled again. "You've forgotten me already, Riku? Well, I guess I do look a bit different. It's me, Namine"

Riku's eyes widened when he heard the name. "But you were a part of Kairi, you disappeared. Why did you start appearing in my dreams now?"

"Well, I didn't find you until now. I came here to help you fight the darkness that haunts you." Namine looked over to Riku as he stood up, his back turned to her, and began walking away.

"I can't let you get involved…I don't want to see you or anyone get hurt because of me again. I've caused people so much pain that it keeps me up at night a lot. If something bad happened to you while you were trying to help me, I would never be able to forgive myself."

It was then that he felt Namine's arms around his waist from behind. "You always tended to be melodramatic about getting help. Please let me help you, everyone needs help sometimes."

Riku turned around to face her, who was now a few inches shorter than him. "Look…" was all he got out before Namine leaned in and kissed him gently. Riku's eyes widened as she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Please, Riku, no one should have to try and fight alone. I want to help you, and besides, you know I won't take no for an answer." Riku chuckled at that comment and he rubbed her back gently.

"Alright, I guess I have no choice, you can help if you really want. But how can you help me if I only see you in my dreams?"

Namine opened her eyes and smiled. "Well that's easy, because I also exist in the real world. I can even tell you…" That was all she said before everything went black again.

----------------------------------End of Dream---------------------------------------------------

"Namine!" Riku said as he sat up quickly. He looked around to notice that he was still on the couch and the clock read midnight. He sighed slightly as he got off the couch and made his way up to his room. All the lights were off as his mother had gone to sleep, but that didn't matter to him. He climbed the stairs as if lights illuminated the entire house, allowing him to see where everything was and avoid any potential accidents. As he went into his room, he fell onto his bed, landing on his back.

As he stared up at the ceiling, his began to think about everything that happened today. He thought about the dream he had that started everything, about meeting Nami on the way to class, and getting to know her a little. He then thought about Seifer getting a cheap shop on him, and how Nami helped him. The walk home and dinner across crossed his mind and then he thought how the new dream he had. Namine looked older than the last time he saw her, like she was about his age. Was she truly here in the real world, or did his brain make it all up? Would she really help him deal with the darkness or was he destined to fight the darkness alone?

For a year he had been trapped in the darkness with waves of Heartless. He did anything he could to survive, heightening his senses so that he could keep his guard up while he slept in case they attacked. For so long he kept up barriers to keep people from getting close, in fear of them getting close and ending up getting hurt. But now he was truly at an impasse; there were two in his life he had feelings for. Nami, who he had only known for a day, but it seemed as though they've known each other for longer. Then there was Namine, the only person who could calm him back then.

How could he choose between them? The choice was so difficult it was not something he could take lightly; he would need time to think everything through and decide. If only he knew what fate had in store for him, perhaps then the choice would not be so difficult.

**Ace: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to reading your reviews**, **so don't forget to review when your done.**

**I would also like to say welcome to my new readers, it's always nice to see new faces in the reviews. With that in mind, here are responses to everyone's reviews**

**cracker-jacks000...**_ wow, this was soo long, but don't worry, there will be fluff before you know it._

**Faint Whistle...** _Thanks for the compliments, first person to mention something about Wakka, ya._

**zealaya... **_Heh, I'm updating as quick as possible, I just want to make sure that what I put out is the best it can be._

**TwilightAngel013...** _I've already started working on the next chapter too, so keep reading and reviewing and I'll start writing even quicker._

**Warrior of Virtue...**_ Haha, Seifer was totally outclassed, Riku wouldn't even have to use it._

**Alpha Male...** _Thanks, I try hard so that people can enjoy the story._

**P.S.-You guys are all awesome and thanks for giving my story a chance. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapter 4 out next week baring any major events.**

** XFireFistAceX**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ace: Sorry it took so long, got a bit of writer's block. Well, without further ado.**

Chapter 4

The morning came and Riku lay sleeping in his room. However, he sensed someone coming into the room and he opened his eyes, looking over to see that his mother had come in. He smiled weakly to her as he started coughing, pretending to be sick. His mother looked concerned as she walked to the bed and bent down to feel his forehead.

"Hunny, are you alright?" She said as she pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. He didn't seem to have a fever, but she was nonetheless still worried.

"I'm not feeling too well today, mom. Do you think I could stay home?" Riku asked as he started coughing again. In truth, he did felt terrible; it was not of any bacteria or virus that caused it. Instead, it was the sheer idea of choosing that made him feel so utterly ill.

Riku's mother stood up and walked to the door, then turned back. "Of course dear, I'll make you something and then I have to get to work. Will you be alright by yourself until 3?" Riku nodded slightly and his mother went downstairs and returned back with some broth. Riku sat up as she handed him the bowl and began to drink the broth. "Alright, I have to go. I hope you feel better and I'll check on you when I get back at 3." With that, she walked out of his room and left the house.

"Gez, I thought she would never leave," Riku said as he jumped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to shower. Afterwards, he went back to his room, wearing just pants and drying his hair with a towel. He threw on a shirt and tossed the towel in the hamper and walked over to the window. He couldn't help but feel bad about what he just did; he hated making his mom worry, but he didn't really have a choice. His mother would have never let him stay home because he needed to think about his love life. He opened the window and checked around to see that his mother had left.

When he saw that the coast was clear, he jumped out of his window, landing softly on the ground. As he walked out from behind his house and onto the road, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Hey Riku, did you sleep well?" Nami said, giggling.

Riku laughed slightly and turned to her. "Yea, I slept pretty well. I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to walk you to school today. I have something I need to do, and it'll probably take up most of the day." He saw that she was starting to frown as he spoke. He cursed under his breath as he didn't mean to upset. "…but you can come over after school and we can talk if you want. I should be done around 3 o'clock," he said as her eyes began to brighten up.

"Alright, good luck with what you need to do, I'll see you later," Namine said as she began to walk off in the direction of the school.

Riku let out a sigh of relief and started walking to the shore. However, he stopped for a second, "Her eyes, why do I get a familiar feel from them now…" He shook his head and laughed a bit to himself, "Nah, it's probably nothing." As he reached the shore, he walked along the beach until he reached a small row boat tied to a stake in the ground. He untied the boat and jumped in, paddling out to the island. He always went there when he need to think, it calmed him because it reminded him of a better time.

He tied the boat down and jumped up onto the dock, walking down to the beach and breathing in the crisp, ocean air. He smirked as he looked around; nothing had changed since they were last here. He even saw the pair of wooden swords that lay almost buried in the sand. He picked it up as swung it around, laughing as he remembered the sword fights he and Sora used to have. Kairi, Wakka, Tidus and Selphie would all watch as they would clash to see who was better. Of course Riku would always win, but no one would ever come to talk to him; instead they would all go to Sora. He knew now that it was because they were afraid of him; they didn't like him.

But that was then, and they all began to like him and spend time with him, except for Selphie but he was somewhat happy about that. She was way too hyper and she got on his nerves more often than not. With his wooden sword in hand, he turned to the cave and made his way towards it. The cave blocked out the noise of the ocean and was a place where he could sit and just think. He had to keep it quick though, his mom would kill him if she knew what he was doing.

------------

Meanwhile, Nami struggled to concentrate in class, worry and concern for Riku constantly distracting her. Kairi had noticed that Nami was distracted and smirked, getting an idea. She quickly scribbled a little note down on a piece of paper and tossed it at Nami while the teacher wasn't looking. The note hitting Nami on the side of the head snapped her back into reality, blinking a couple times and then taking the note off of her lap after realizing what happened. She placed it on her notebook so that the teacher wouldn't notice and began to read it.

_Nami, _

_If it's Riku you're so worried about, he probably went to the island. Sneak out with me when the bell rings and I'll take you. Just let me know when class lets out._

_-Kairi_

Nami carefully thought about the proposition presented to her. On one side, she didn't want to cut the rest of school just for a boy. On the other hand, she was too distracted thinking and worrying about Riku to be able to concentrate in class. She quickly jotted down the rest of the notes on the blackboard down into her book before the bell rang.

She got her stuff together and waited for Kairi outside the room. She was still a bit nervous around Kairi, mostly because she didn't really know her. Kairi smiled as she saw Nami waiting. She walked up to her, smiling and said, "So, let's just put our books in the lockers and then leave during lunch. Oh, and you don't have to be shy around me, I'm really easy to talk to. I'm also fun!"

Nami laughed a bit and smiled as she nodded. They split up to go to their respective lockers and put their books away. They met outside the cafeteria, at around noon, grabbing a little something to snack on before leaving. Making sure that there were no teachers around, they quickly and quietly snuck out of the school. They both laughed as they walked down the road, proud of themselves for getting out before anyone noticing. Sure, they may get in trouble tomorrow, but that was the furthest thing from their mind right now.

-----------------

As Riku walked through the cave, he noticed the drawings that Sora and Kairi had drawn for one another. In between the two was a star that lay in Sora's hand as he extended it to Kairi. The star, along with the gesture of giving, embodied everything that Riku truly wanted; someone who meant as much to him as Kairi did to Sora. He wanted to be needed by someone, and feel compelled to do anything to keep them safe. "Sora wanted so badly to save Kairi, he even fought me and the darkness within me to save her… If only I could make this stupid decision, then I'd know who to protect…" His thoughts then shifted to Nami. He sat down and leaned against the cave wall, placing the wooden sword next to him, and thought about the fun he had with Nami. A smile crept onto his face as he closed his eyes, letting his thoughts about Nami and Namine flowing freely through his mind so that he could truly decide what was best. _This is not a decision to be made lightly. I like them both, but I need to choose._

-----------------

Meanwhile, Kairi and Nami were running towards the beach, eager to find a free boat. As they reached the beach, both were breathing heavy, trying to catch their breath. Afterwards, they walked along the beach over to the docks, where they were able to find one free boat. Kairi instructed Nami to get into the boat as she quickly untied the boat from the dock and then hopped in. As they began to row towards the island, Nami's curiosity spiked and she began to ask Kairi about the island. "Why would Riku come here, of all places?"

"Hmm…" Kairi seemed to ponder a bit, as if trying to find the right words. "This used to be the island where we all hung out during the summer. We all built tree house on this island, so it felt like a second home to us most of the time. There is also a cave on the island, which is a great place for thinking because it seems like while you're in the cave, no noise from the outside comes in. Riku would use it when he needed to think, he tends not to be as vocal as myself or Sora. This time though… it must have been a very important decision. He usually let Sora or I know when he's going, and then asks us to come with him so he can have someone to talk to afterwards." Nami nodded as she listened, not as sure that she should be coming as she was before. "Don't worry Nami, I'm sure that Riku will be more than happy to see you."

"Do you really think so?" Nami asked as she looked up to Kairi.

"Of course," Kairi said with a wide smile on her face. "In all my time of knowing him, he's never really taken to a girl before like he has to you."

Nami looked down again, her face completely red. The thought of him possibly feeling the same way as she did made her smile and giggle. As she looked up, she saw that they were at the docks of the other island, with Kairi tying the dock to the dock. They both saw the empty boat on the other side of the dock, figuring that it belonged to Riku. Nami was the first to climb the ladder, a bit nervous at first, but was calmer knowing that Kairi was behind her to catch her if she fell. She picked herself up onto the dock, extending her hand back to Kairi to help her up. As they both stand up, they walk down to the beach, taking in the entire view.

"Wow, this is really beautiful…no wonder you guys would always come here during the summer." Nami said, her eyes wide open in amazement.

Kairi giggled a bit, "Yea, every time we came, it always looked more beautiful then the last time we were here." They walked over to the rather big tree house they had built years ago. It held up very well considering all the storms that would hit during the year. Kairi walked in the tree house first, followed closely by Nami. Kairi looked around to see if Riku was here, while Nami stood in awe to see how nicely the place was decorated. There were even stairs to a second floor.

"Wow…" was the only thing that she could say; she was simply astonished at all the furnishings.

"Nice, isn't it?" Kairi asked as she walked down the stairs.

"It's beautiful."

"Ha-ha, yes. Unfortunately, it looks like Riku isn't here, but that just means that he's definitely in the cave. Why don't you go there first? Riku might like seeing just you more than seeing the both of us," Kairi said as she plopped down on the couch and looked over to Nami.

"That sounds like a good idea, and I saw the cave entrance, so you can just stay here. I'll come back with Riku," Nami said with a smile. Kairi smiled back and waved as Nami walked out of the tree house, waving back. As Nami walked down the stairs, she saw the cave entrance and made a b-line right for it. As she got closer, her heart began to skip a beat here and there, very nervous about seeing Riku in the cave. He could be doing anything in there, what if she interrupted him do something important. She stopped right before the entrance of the cave, feeling like butterflies are racing around in her stomach. She then took a deep breath and walked into the cave.

Riku still sat there with his eyes closed, still deep in thought. For some reason, the place that started the worst thing to happen to him was also the place where he made the best decisions. Maybe it was because it reminded him of what he should not do or come, but he wasn't sure. As Nami walked through the cave, she came to the end and looked around, spotting Riku in the far corner. She smiled and started to make her way towards him.

It was then when something started going on inside Riku's head. He sensed someone approaching him, and immediately thought the worst. He had told no one about where he was, if someone was coming towards him, it had to be something bad. His mind began to form an image in front of him of his worst enemy; Ansem, the thing that ruined his life. He gritted his teeth as he quickly grabbed his wooden sword and dashed towards him. With his left hand stretched out, he grabbed his neck and pointed the sword at his face. He pulled his arm back and began to swing when he heard a familiar voice.

"Riku….why…?"

He stopped swinging as he body began to tremble. _No…please don't tell me that it's…_ As he opened his eyes, the form that was initially Ansem was now gone and instead, Nami was the one who he was about to strike. He let go of her neck, the sword dropping from his other hand. Nami stood there in shock for a minute, but before she could even utter a word, her knees began to buckle and her eyesight faded as fell to the ground, out cold. Riku caught her before she fell, sinking to his knees as he held her close. He closed his eyes again, ashamed and infuriated with himself. How could he do such a thing to her? He gave in again to the darkness, he let it control him and let his rage for Ansem blind him. As he mentally beat himself up, he rose back to his feet, walking out of the cave and towards the tree house, carrying Nami with him. "I'm truly a monster of the darkness, I don't deserve her, I don't deserve Namine, I don't deserve anyone…" he said as he walked up the stairs.

Kairi was lying on the couch when Riku entered, gasping as she jumped up to her feet. "Oh my god, Is she alright?! What happened to her, Riku?!"

Riku laid her down onto the couch, then look away from her. "She just passed out, she'll be fine." Kairi could immediately tell something was wrong with Riku, and he didn't even answer her question. Before she could say something to him, Riku spoke again, "I'm going to be outside, please take care of Nami…" He said as he walked outside.

"Wait, Riku!" Kairi yelled as she ran outside, only to find Riku sitting on the steps, his head in his hands. She slowly walked the stairs to where he sat and put her hand on his shoulder. "Riku, what's wrong? What happened to Nami?"

He pushed her hand off of his shoulder. "It was my fault, I hurt Nami. I was weak and fell prey to the darkness and now I've hurt someone I care about…" He got up and continued to walk down the stairs.

Kairi gasped as she heard, but was intent on keep him from leaving. She ran down the stairs and stopped in front of him. It was then that she noticed something about Riku; there were tears in his eyes. She had never before seen him even shed one tear. He was always so strong that the thought of him being this upset was simply unthinkable. "Riku, you're so melodramatic," she said, in somewhat of a teasing tone.

"This is hardly the time for this, Kairi!" Riku barked at her.

"And it's hardly the time for you to feel so bad for yourself. Yes, you made a mistake, but I know you didn't mean to do it because I've known you for years and know this is not something you would purposely do. No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. It could have been worse, she could have been seriously injured but she isn't." She put her hand on Riku's shoulder, "Now, let's go back up there and make sure she's alright. When she wakes up, I will try to talk to her and explain what happened, alright?" Riku nodded and they both walked back up the stairs.

Riku still looked at the ground as he walked back up the stairs. "How can I face her after what I've done?"

Kairi smirked and turned around. "Easy, like this!" She then made a funny face at him. When he looked up and saw her, he couldn't help but laugh a little. Somehow, she knew it was what he needed. She then smirked at him and continued to walk back up the stairs, Riku following after.

As Nami lay unconscious on the couch, she seemed to enter a dreamlike state unknowingly. She was in a white room, devoid of any furniture or anything of the sort. She looked around confused for a second, not sure where she was. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember is being in the cave and… Riku attacked me! How could he do such a thing?! I thought he liked me and then he did that! What a monster!"

"You shouldn't judge Riku so quickly," a female voice said behind Nami. "After all, the poor boy spent a year within the darkness, and is haunted by the memories of what he has done." Nami turned around to see a girl who looked almost exactly like her, only taller and with longer hair. She had a sketchbook in one hand, and a pencil in the other, sitting in a white chair.

"Who are you?!" Nami exclaimed, jumping back a bit. "And how do you know Riku?"

Namine smiled a bit and took a deep breath, "My name is Namine, and I am, well, you. Two years ago, I was created when Kairi had her heart taken. I was known as a Nobody, beings that did not possess hearts or emotions. However, I was not totally like the others, I had feelings and emotions, things that other Nobodies did not possess. I was working for a group known as Organization XIII when I encountered Sora, the object of the Organization's focus. Before him, I thought there was no hope, that I was doomed to be where I was. He showed me kindness and hope. So, I helped him and his friends before I became part of Kairi again. Before I knew it, I awoke in here, in your thoughts. Somehow our memories, along with me, were locked away from you. I would just sit here, seeing what you see and knowing what you know, only you did not know all that I know. You didn't recognize those that I could, and there was nothing I could do to remind you.

Nami stood there in disbelief; she couldn't believe any of this. "That's impossible! None of this is possible, you're just a dream, you're not real!" She yelled at the girl, who just sat there; a serious look on her face that caused Nami to calm down.

"I guess I'll have to prove it to you. Look at these drawings I have." Namine handed the sketch book over to Nami and she started flipping through the book. As she looked through it, she saw drawings of Sora, Riku, and Kairi; both of present events and ones of the past. Nami dropped the pad, still somewhat in disbelief and still confused. Namine giggle and stood up, walking over and picking up the pad. "Whether or not you believe me, the time has come for us to become one again, so that you can remember what you should, and not be upset over what you cannot recall."

Namine put a hand on Nami's shoulder, and the two began to glow. Nami wanted to pull back, but this felt right for some odd reason, so she gave in and stopped resisting. The two began to fuse into one, when a light flashed and no one was left in the room.

As Kairi and Riku walked into the room, they saw that Nami's body was glowing. As they went to move towards her, Nami's body began to levitate and glow brighter. Then, suddenly, the glow coming from her created a giant flash of light, temporarily blinding the two of them. Riku started to sniff, trying to see if he could still smell her. To his surprise, her smell started to change, as if it was altering itself. However, what it was changing to was something that was familiar.

"What's going on, Riku?" Kairi shrieked, covering her eyes as the light flashed.

"She's changing-" As Riku began to speak, they both felt some sort of force knock against them, pushing them back, causing Kairi to fall. Riku was able to keep his footing and then quickly crouched and spun around, catching Kairi before she fell. As he helped Kairi, to her feet, the bright light began to fade, a shadowy figure appearing before them. Riku began to sniff again, trying to see if he could recognize her. His eyes widened and he fell backwards onto the ground.

"Riku! What is it? What's wrong?" Kairi said as she looked down to him first, then glancing up to see who it was. Her eyes also widened as she immediately recognized her. "You're-You're…"

The girl who stood where Nami once giggled and smiled at them both, brushing her long hair out of her face. "It's been so long since I could see and talk to both of you. I've missed you all." She said softly, a smile on her face.

"Namine!" Riku exclaimed, while Kairi was still in shock. As he stood up, Namine made her way towards them and embraced Riku. Riku stood there quiet for a second, his mind initially racing, but quickly began to calm itself. He then put his arms around her as well. "I missed you as well, Namine. But, what just happened? And what happened to Nami?"

Meanwhile, back on Destiny Island, Sora was on his way back from school, wondering where everyone had gone. No one had told him what was happening that day, so he was clueless, as usual. As he was walking, he noticed a boy with golden spiky hair and blue eyes walking towards the school, a serious look on his eyes. Yet, the boy also felt familiar to him, like they met before. He then stopped as the boy started to walk past him. "Hey, do I know-?"

"Don't have time to talk to you, Sora, or should I say, Keyblade Master?" The boy said, cutting Sora off. Sora's eyes widened as he watched him walk away.

_Who is he? And how did he not only know my name, but that I wield a keyblade? Something is wrong, very wrong,_ Sora thought as he walked back to his house and sat on the front steps. He sighed a bit and looked at his right hand, and then up to the sky. _Guys, I hope everything is alright._

**Ace: Well, hope you enjoy the new chapter. I'm going to work really hard to get chap 5 out quickly, I promise.**

**Zealaya: **_Glad you like it, hope to keep ya coming back._

**Volume-5: **_Glad to see that you came and checked out the story. Hopefully I can fit some fluff in before the drama and action really kicks into high gear._

**TwilightAngel 1013: **_ Thanks and I'll really try more to get it out faster._

**cracker-jacks000: **_Hehe, you're reviews are always so long, but so much fun to read. Glad you still like, hope you will continue to._

**Warrior of Virtue: **_Yea, but he just came around to it, wonder what'll happen next? oh wait, I know lol._

**Alpha Male: **_Thanks, I can't wait to be able to write more._

**Aska-Seeker: **_Yea, well, you kind of find out the connection, but glad it gets ya thinking. Hope you enjoy it._

**Ace: As always, be sure to read and review because not only do I love your comments, it motivates me to write quicker. The next chapter will have a sneak preview for chap 6. Until then, I'm off.**

**XFireFistAceX  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ace: Wow, I am so sorry it has taken so long, I have had a lot of stuff hit me hard but I am back and better than ever!**

With the initial shock of Namine appearing and Nami disappearing setting in, the three of them all sat on the couch as Namine recounted the whole story. Kairi was somewhat shocked and surprised, assuming it was magic that had been involved. She was still very new to magic, only knowing bits and pieces from when Riku and Sora would talk about it. Riku, on the other hand, knew that what had happened had nothing to do with magic, but he couldn't figure out it was.

_The true Ansem had died long ago, so this couldn't have been his doing. The Organization was also destroyed, Roxas was the only one who wasn't killed, and he merged with Sora. What could have caused this?_ As Riku contemplated an answer, he began to drift off, Namine's voice fading although her presence within his senses remaining. The idea seemed impossible and yet proof of it sat in front of him with no real explanation as to how she returned to reality. An elbow aimed at his side caused him to involuntarily jump off the couch to dodge, snapping him back to reality. As he looked at Kairi, the one who tried to elbow him, both girls began to giggle at him.

"He always looks so cute when he's thinking, but he still has nothing on my Sora," Kairi said giggling.

"I don't know, I think he's cuter than Sora, but that's just me," Namine responded, giggling as well.

Namine had changed quite a bit since the last time Riku saw her, not just physically, but almost mentally. She seemed more confident in herself, and also a lot happier. Perhaps it was because she was no longer a pawn of the Organization or of DiZ, or maybe it was because of the time she had spent with Sora and Kairi. He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to question it; now just wasn't the time. For now, he just smirked as he arrogantly spoke, "I'm the hottest guy at school, and everyone knows it." He started laughing along with the two girls. If you asked any girl at school, they would say Riku was the hottest, and that he was perfect. To him, gossip was nothing more than amusing.

"It's must be nice to laugh now," Namine said still giggling. "Especially now that you know the two girls that you were contemplating over are infact the same person."

It was then that Riku stopped laughing almost immediately, as his face became very solemn and serious in mere seconds. With everything that had happened within the past few minutes, he had forgotten the whole reason he came here. It was then that everything came crashing down ontop him. The darkness within him, the times he had tried to hurt Kairi and Sora, and worse yet, when he hurt Nami no more than fifteen minutes ago.

He turned his back to the Namine, unable to face her knowing what he did. "I…can't do it. I can't knowingly put you in that danger. I cared about Nami and I almost seriously hurt her. I'm relieved to know that you are alright, but if I hurt you again, I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive myself." He went to walk away but felt a pull on his arm. When he turned around, he saw that Namine had grabbed his arm, a serious look on her face.

"Riku…I understand your fear," She said calmly. "But I want to help you fight the darkness. Do you know why I'm so strong now?"

"Well, I-" Riku got out before Namine interrupted him again.

"I'm strong because of you, Riku!" She yelled, closing her eyes. "You were so strong when I met you, I disguised myself and you knew it was me. I offered to rid you of your darkness and you refused, saying you wanted to deal with it, that it was your penance. You let the darkness take over you in order to save your friends and yet you could control it. I had never seen someone so strong, or so determined to help their friends. I-I-" Her voice began to choke up as tears streamed down her face, "I wanted to be strong for you!"

Riku's eyes widened as he listened. He couldn't believe it at first; he was her reason for wanting to be strong. As she cried, he puts his arms around her and pulled her close. Namine buried her head in his chest and he rubbed her shoulders consolingly. "I'm sorry, Namine, I should have never said those things. Just please, don't cry anymore, I hate to see you this upset." At that point he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to live his life for Namine; to make her happy and smile. With the anguish he had caused her from his own selfish actions, it was the least he could do. It didn't matter to him whether he was just her friend or more; he just didn't want to see her upset again.

She leaned back a bit, taking her face out of his chest and looked up to him. The tears had stopped and she smiled a bit, "Even when I should be really sad, you can make me smile and forget it. I want to be with you and fight the darkness by your side. Please let me do this for you."

Riku smirked as he nodded his head. "If it's what you truly want, I won't stop you." Kairi slapped her forehead when he finished speaking. That had to be the worst way she had ever heard someone agree to going out with someone she had ever heard. _Maybe he didn't understand what she was asking. Who am I kidding, this is Riku, he would never be so naïve. _She thought as Namine giggled at Riku.

"Y'know, a simple yes would have sufficed," Namine said between giggles.

"I know, but you didn't exactly ask me in a conventional manner. Besides, it sounded good to me," Riku said as he laughed. It felt as if a big weight was lifted from his shoulders; a much needed relief from all the stress he had gone through in the past hour. He then swept Namine off of her feet with ease, feeling his strength returning to his arms. She gasped initially, but then threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "We should head back, it's almost 3 and my mom thinks I'm sick. She'll kill me if I'm not there when she gets back."

Namine and Kairi sat outside Riku's house as Riku was talking with his mother. He sighed a bit as he walked outside and took a seat next to Namine, who rubbed his shoulders. "So, how did it go?"

Riku glanced back, smirking. "I got off scot free." Riku chuckled a bit.

Namine smacked him in the back of his head playfully, giggling. "You're such a drama queen, Riku. You're so lucky you're cute."

As they sat around on the stairs, laughing, Kairi noticed Sora walking home. She smiled and immediately stood up, running towards him and practically tackling him to the ground. Sora winced a bit, but then smiled, realizing who it was. "Hey Kairi, I missed you today."

Kairi didn't say anything, instead she just kissed him on the lips, then stood back up extending her hand out to help Sora up. Riku and Namine waved as the two made their way over and Sora plopped down onto the stairs. "I wish you guys told me you were all going to ditch school, it was so boring."

Riku laughed a bit, "Sorry, Sora, I needed time to think. I didn't know it would cause so much trouble. I won't do that again."

Sora smirked and nodded as the two bumped fists as Kairi and Namine smiled to one another. The two girls then stood and walked down the steps. "We're going to go head to my place," Kairi said, with a devious smile on her face. "Its girl talk, you wouldn't be interested." Riku and Sora nodded as the two girls left, going over to Kairi's house.

"Was that Nami? She looks a lot different than last time I saw her." Sora asked.

"Yea, it's a long story, but I'll tell you about it later. So, what happened at school?" Riku asked, somewhat curious as to whether or not anyone noticed he was gone.

Sora blinked a few times, but then shrugged and began his story. "It was boring, all the girls did was gossip about why you were there. It's like that's all they can talk about. On top of that, this spiky blonde-haired kid bumps into me on the way home, and the weirdest thing, he knew my name, and even called me the Keyblade Master. Usually Donald, Goofy, and the Organization were the only people who called me that. He seemed familiar too, like I had met him before. Weird, huh?"

Riku's eyes widened a bit, "Yea..haha…weird."

Sora was about to question Riku, the blonde-haired boy stood before them, a smirk on his face as if he had just won the lottery. Riku immediately looked in his direction, while Sora jumped to his feet, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance. "Well, looks like I found the other Keyblade Master, Riku. Where's Namine?"

"What are you-" Riku began to say before he was cut off.

"Where's Namine!" Roxas snapped.

"Look, Roxas-" Again, he was cut off.

"Stop wasting my time! I have to protect her from Organization XIII." Roxas said, glaring at Riku.

"The Organization's back?!" Sora exclaimed, "But they were all killed."

"Well, they're back, and they're after Namine, she's not safe here." Roxas then looked back at Riku, "You're too weak."

"I'm weak, am I? I'm stronger than you think." Riku moved the hair out of his face as he walked down the stairs and towards Roxas. Sora wanted to aid his friend, but he knew that this was a duel, Riku had to fight him alone.

_Roxas is his name, huh. Why is that name so familiar?_ Sora thought as he looked on.

"Prove it then," Roxas retorted, tossing Riku a wooden sword, while he himself had one in each hand.

Riku grinned, "Two swords against one, that hardly seems fair." Riku paused for a second, gripping the sword tightly before speaking again. "For you."

Roxas dashed at Riku, both swords aiming for his chest. However, both attacks were easily parried by Riku, who spun around and aimed for the square of his back. Roxas jumped up, narrowly dodging the blade and landed a couple feet away. "You have gotten stronger, you're lucky I don't have my keyblades," Roxas sneered.

Riku snickered at his comment. "Don't underestimate me, or you'll end up eating your words." With that, Riku seemingly vanished, appearing again behind Roxas, swinging his blade at Roxas' side. Roxas was ready, however, as he spun around and blocked the attack and then thrusted his other blade at Riku's chest.

Riku did a back flip, kicking the blade out of Roxas' hand, causing it to land by Sora's feet. Roxas smirked as he then took the other blade in both hands. "Perhaps I was mistaken, however, you have one glaring weakpoint." With that, Roxas charged at Riku, aiming the wooden sword at Riku's injured side. "You never took enough time off to let it heal."

Riku blocked the sword, however he was not able to block the kick and landed in his gut. Riku gasped, being pushed back a few feet, one hand over his stomach. Sora winced as he saw Riku get hit, and then looked down at his feet to see the wooden sword at his feet.

Roxas smirked as he continued his attacks on Riku. Riku was barely able to block the attacks, even getting hit in the legs, chest and arms with a combination of the wooden sword and kicks. "So, is this all you can do? How can you expect to be able to protect Namine, and even Kairi and Sora? Do you really think that you can take on the Organization all by yourself?"

"He doesn't have to!" A voice behind Roxas yelled, and slammed the sword into his side, sending him flying. Riku looked up to see Sora standing in front of him, his hand out to help Riku up. "He has friends that will help him fight and protect the ones they care about."

As Sora helped Riku up, they looked over to see Roxas standing and laughing. "The two Keyblade Masters fighting side by side, perhaps you can do it."

"You could help us, the three of us could definitely defeat the Organization." Sora said.

"I have other matters to attend to at the time, however if our paths do cross again, it will be on the same side." Roxas then flashed them a fairly sincere smile and began to walk away. Sora and Riku looked to each other, puzzled about what just happened. They then looked to each other and smirked, giving each other high fives, and then walked back to his house.

"Crap, in all the excitement, I forgot." Riku sighed slightly as he spoke, "I don't know how to call my blade anymore."

"…Neither do I," Sora said, almost beside himself. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, but we have to think of something soon."

In a white room in an unknown part of the world, thirteen chairs stood at varying heights, twelve of them filled, one vacant. In the tallest chair sat a man with longest silver hair and a dark complexion. The others looked up to him, as if waiting for an answer on what to do.

"We are all on the same page now, correct? No betrayals planned?" The man said, looking at one who had long pink hair.

"No sir, we are all in agreement, we must capture Namine." The pink-haired man replied.

The lone woman spoke up, pushing her blonde hair back out of her face. "What do we do about XIII, the Key of Destiny? He refuses to come back, he could be a powerful opposition."

" If we capture Namine, we can manipulate his memories and make him rejoin us. The time is right, with the two Keyblade Masters unable to call upon their blades, we must take this opportunity to strike." He then looked to the man with long black hair. "Xaldin, take them out and capture Namine by any means necessary."

Xaldin smirked and nodded. "As you wish, Xenmas." With that, he jumped down off of his chair, falling through a black hole, disappearing in it. This can't be good.

**Ace: Well, there's Chapter 5, hope you enjoy. Chap 6 will be up much quicker I promise but please R&R, the reviews inspire me. This time around I gotta skip responding just for the sake of getting the chapter up so I'm very sorry but I promise it'll return next time.**

**Till then, keep yourself out of trouble, and I look forward to all your wonderful reviews.**


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